CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. – A Charlotte County jury has recommended the death penalty for Dwight T. Eaglin for the murders of Correctional Officer Darla Lathrem and inmate Charlie Fuston, returning its verdict just before 7 p.m. after more than two weeks of testimony in a penalty phase retrial.
The jury voted 11-1 to recommend death for the murder of Lathrem and unanimously recommended death, 12-0, for the murder of Fuston. The case stems from a 2003 escape attempt at the Charlotte Correctional Institution in which prosecutors said both victims were beaten to death with hammers.
Eaglin was originally sentenced to death in 2006 for the murders. His sentence was later challenged following changes to Florida’s death penalty law, and he was granted a new penalty phase trial…